Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades was still smoldering in several apartment towers Thursday as firefighters struggled to rescue dozens of people still unaccounted for.
At least 55 people were known to have died in the blaze that broke out Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court in Taipo, a suburb in the city’s mountainous New Territories. Dozens more were injured, and about 900 of the 4,800 residents were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight.
Seven of the 32-story towers in the eight-building complex were engulfed in flames after construction materials and bamboo scaffolding caught fire. Officials said that extreme heat was hampering rescue efforts.
It’s the deadliest fire in Hong Kong since November 1996, when 41 people died in a commercial building in Kowloon in a fire that lasted for around 20 hours.
Here’s what to know about the disaster:
Why the buildings burst into flames
Officials are investigating why construction materials,
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